Icons by Margaret Stohl

Icons

Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Release Date: May 7, 2013

Series or Standalone: Icons #1

ISBN: 0316205184

Format: ARC

Pages: 428

Websites:

Margaret Stohl – Website

Margaret Stohl – Facebook 

Margaret Stohl– Twitter 

Rating: 3 Stars

Icons was one of those books that I couldn’t fully get into. I didn’t hate but I didn’t love it, it was mehh. Icons had a lot of potential and I am interested to see were this series goes, but as the first book in a series it felt very jumbled and disconnected.

Icons is set in the not so distant future in a post-invasion world where aliens hold the complete control and most of the population has been killed. As the tagline says “Your heart only beats with their permission.” It is hard for me to describe what sort of world, Dol, the main character, is living in because I couldn’t really get a clear picture of what it was like. This post-invasion world didn’t seem to be fully constructed which oftentimes left me feeling confused. The politics of this world also were confusing. I did not really understand why things were happening, or why the Ambassadors were so bad or what was up with the rebellion faction. I felt I had to struggle to put together the pieces of this world, something that should be clearly developed in the first book of a series.

The characters in the book left me wanting more. I couldn’t connect to any of them. They were all so flat and emotionless, though as children of the Icon, emotionless they shouldn’t be. The romance in the book felt stale, probably because of the lack of depth in the characters. The only character I found remotely interesting was Doc, and he was an artificial intelligence.

The plot was intriguing enough that it kept me turning the pages. There was plenty of action and mystery to keep me interested in finding out more. I really enjoyed how between chapters there would be different artifacts or clips that related to the plot in a  not so clear way until the end. The biggest thing that kept me reading was the mystery of the Icons. Well, that’s not fully answered in this book, but I look forward to finding more out of them.

As a first book in a series, Icons left me feeling confused and wanting more. I expected more from this book than it gave me. I’ll be reading the sequel because the story was interesting enough to make me want to keep reading, but I hope in the next book the world and characters are more developed. I can’t help but compare this post-alien invasion book to another new alien invasion book, The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey, and this just falls flat in comparison to that. Hopefully Margaret Stohl can deliver more in the next Icon series book.   

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little Brown & Company

Release Date: September 27, 2011

Series or Standalone:  Daughter of Smoke and Bones #1

ISBN: 9780316134026

Format: ARC

Pages: 432

Source: BEA

Websites:

Laini Taylor – Blog

Laini Taylor – Twitter

Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Official Website

Rating: 5 Stars

Daughter of Smoke and Bone  is a beautiful magical book. Laini Taylor will leave you awestruck after you read this, it’s that good.

When I started Daughter of Smoke and Bone I told myself I was just going to read a few chapters and go to sleep. Well, a few chapters turned into a few more chapters, and then a few more, until I ended up reading the book in one sitting. I got so drawn into this book I couldn’t put it down. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. It was addicting.

Everything was perfect in this book. There was nothing I did not like. The writing was breathtakingly beautiful. Laini Taylor has a way with words that just leaves you sitting there in awe. Her descriptions were vivid and beautiful. I felt like I was in the story with the character in the fairy tale. I was in awe of the writing. I think It can seriously give classic authors a run for their money.

Not only is the writing beautiful, the storytelling is spot on. This book I a modern fairy. The world building seemed effortless and you could truly see and understand Karou’s world. I really loved how the story was revealed, as you were reading everything slowly came together in like layers until the big picture was revealed. The pacing of the plot was spot on, it was not to fast and not too slow and there was a perfect balance of action, drama, romance and mystery. I was engrossed by Karou’s story and wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding her. When it was time for the “big reveal” as I’ll call it, I kind of just sat there staring at the book because once it was mystery was revealed it seemed so obvious, but when you first read it, it’s not. I was amazed at how Laini Taylor was able to take all the puzzle pieces and clues and make them come together. Everything just clicked. When everything clicked that was when I had my “ah-ha” moment and understood what the title really meant and how the title was staring me in the face the whole time. The balance of the supernatural (angels/demons) was perfect, it felt like just a part of the story.

I really loved the characters in this book. Each character was fully developed and played a role in the story. Karou was definitely a different type of protagonist. I mean she had blue hair (AWESOME) and was part of this world full of strange, monster like creatures that other people would run screaming away from. One think I really liked about Karou was that she was willing to take risks to find out more about herself, even if the truth was painful. And then there is Akiva, an angel. But these aren’t the typical angels. He’s here for a purpose, and from the point of view of Karou, not exactly a good guy at first (he did try to kill her…). He is a warrior and is frightening at first. As the story progresses we learn more about Akiva and he really grows on you. You begin to understand more about him and how Karou and him are connected. You sympathize with him and really like his character by the end.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is beautiful, haunting, lyrical and romantic. I feel like my review cannot do it justice. I know you hear time and time again that a book is unique, but truly, this book is unlike anything I’ve read before. It take elements that appear commonly in books, but makes this completely new story that has never been told before. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is truly a modern fairy tale and what every fairy tale should aspire to be.

Review: Beautiful Darkness

Beautiful Darkness

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little Brown Books

Release Date: October 12, 2010

Pages: 512

Ratings: 5 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Beautiful Darkness had me under a spell that kept me up until 6am. I had to finish it once I started reading. Even after finishing it, I didn’t want to sleep, I just wanted to get up and exclaim how awesome it was, but I refrained. The second book in the Caster Chronicles surpassed my expectations. Beautiful Darkness is a stunning second book in an amazing series.

Initially, I was extremely worried that Beautiful Darkness would suffer from the second book in series syndrome, where the second book is more of a place holder and nothing happens….boy, was I wrong. If anything, Beautiful Darkness had even more going on then in Beautiful Creatures. I really enjoyed Beautiful Creatures, but I loved Beautiful Darkness. If anything, I think Beautiful Darkness was better than it’s predecessor.

Beautiful Darkness picks up were Beautiful Creatures ended. However, if you haven’t read Beautiful Creatures in a while, have no fear. As long as you can remember the major plot points, everything in Beautiful Darkness makes sense. Immediately, Beautiful Darkness picks up and places you under a spell that does not release you until the end of the book. This book is darker then Beautiful Creatures, but it makes sense after the actions in Beautiful Creatures that have stirred up more turmoil in Lena’s life. I loved the darker tone, and the turmoil and the raw, powerful emotions in this book.

Two new characters are introduced in this book who pose unknown risks to Lena and Ethan’s relationships. These new charaters were definitely intriguing and hit seamlessly into the story. I was particularly interesting in John Breed. Wait until you meet him and you will be too.

Beautiful Darkness constantly kept me on my toes. I did not see many of the twists and turns Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl decided to take us on. I frequently was shocked by what occurred that I even gasped out loud too many times to remember. This book was also an emotional rollercoaster for both the reader and the characters. I empathized so much with Ethan and the pain he was feeling when Lena was being distance. Kami and Margaret capture Ethan’s voice perfectly and have created a stunning narrator. All their characters are great and it’s really easy to sympathize for them when they are going through every thing that happens during this book. And poor Ethan. I love Ethan, and I frequently wanted to just give him a hug because everything that happened.

Beautiful Darkness surpassed my expectations. The writing was beautiful, flowing seamlessly as if it was written by one person, the plot was superb, constantly keeping the reader on edge and the characters were well develop and such loveable characters. The ending was perfect and definitely left me anxious for the next book. However, ever all the horrible things that happened in this book, I hope Ethan, Lena, Link and the whole gang would be able to catch some sort of break because I felt so bad for them after the events they had to endure in this book. I cannot wait for the next book though and am eager to see where Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl take this wonderful series next.

Waiting on Wednesday (14) - The Mockingbirds

The Mockingbirds

Daisy Whitney

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

To be released: November 2, 2010

Summary (from Goodreads):

Some schools have honor codes.

Others have handbooks.

Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

First off, I just want to apoligize that this week and most of last week was all memes. I have been swamped with school work (mostly Shakespeare) and haven’t had time to finish the reviews I’ve started. I’m going to catch up on blogging this weekend.

Okay, onto the Mockingbirds. I’ve heard such great things about this book and I cannot wait to read it. This book looks like it might be a challenged and possibly banned book, and that makes me incredibly sad. Stories like this need to be told an accessible to readers, especially teenagers. I will definitely be buying this book when it is released even though I am a poor college student.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event highlighting exciting upcoming releases. It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.